1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sound producing device, more specifically, to a dual-bearing reel sound producing device configured to produce sound in conjunction with rotation of a fishing-line winding spool attached to a reel body of a dual-bearing reel in a rotatable state.
2. Background Information
Dual-bearing reel sound producing devices that are configured to produce sound in conjunction with rotation of a spool and simultaneously to apply resistance to rotation of the spool are well-known. Japan Laid-open Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2005-013075 describes a dual-bearing reel sound producing device of this type. A sound producing device includes a convexo-concave member, an operation member, a sound producing member, and an urging member. The convexo-concave member is attached to a spool shaft in a non-rotatable state. The operation member is attached to a reel body while being movable in both a direction for making contact with the convexo-concave member and a direction for separating away from the convexo-concave member. The sound producing member is configured to vibrate in conjunction with rotation of the convexo-concave member. The urging member is configured to urge the sound producing member. The convexo-concave member includes plural convexes on its outer periphery. The convexes are circumferentially aligned at predetermined intervals. The operation member is attached into an elongated aperture formed in the lateral part of the reel body while being movable in a radial direction of the spool shaft. The elongated aperture herein passes through the lateral part of the reel body and has a roughly oval outline. The sound producing member is attached to the operation member in a pivotable state. The tip of the sound producing member is movable between a sound activation position and a sound deactivation position in response to movement of the operation member. The tip of the sound producing member is interposed between two given adjacent convexes in the sound activation position, whereas the tip of the sound producing member is separated from the interposed position between the adjacent convexes in the sound deactivation position. The urging member is configured to urge the sound producing member for directing the tip of the sound producing member towards substantially the rotation center of the convexo-concave member when the sound producing member is located in the sound activation position. When the operation member is moved towards one of the longer-axial ends of the elongated aperture, the tip of the sound producing device is accordingly moved to the sound activation position where it is interposed between two given adjacent convexes. A sound activation state is thus produced. When the operation member is moved towards the other of the longer-axial ends of the elongated aperture, on the other hand, the tip of the sound producing member is moved to the sound deactivation position where it is separated from the interposed position between the adjacent convexes. A sound deactivation state is thus produced. In short, the sound activation state and the sound deactivation state are switchable in response to movement of the operation member within the elongated aperture.
As described above, the well-known sound producing devices are configured to switch between the sound activation state and the sound deactivation state in response to movement of the operation member within the elongated aperture. According to the sound producing devices, however, the operation member is simply moved within the elongated aperture. Therefore, when an angler actually moves the operation member from one of the longer-axial ends of the elongated aperture to the other thereof, the angler cannot feel a sense of clicking that would assure the angler that the operation member has been reliably moved. To deal with this drawback, it is plausible to provide separately the base end of the sound producing member with a click mechanism that is configured to make contact with the inner part of the reel body in conjunction with movement of the operation member. In this case, however, the reel body is required to have a container space for the click mechanism, and the click mechanism is possibly required to have a complex structure.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved dual-bearing reel sound producing device with a simple structure for making an angler feel a sense of clicking when an operation member is moved. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.